


Deadbeat Dad

by therunawaypen



Series: 00Q Tumblr Prompt Fills [76]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Gen, It's annoying, James has a daughter, James keeps getting himself killed on his missions, M/M, Q is a Holmes, it's a strained relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-25
Updated: 2014-06-04
Packaged: 2018-01-09 22:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1151475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therunawaypen/pseuds/therunawaypen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emmeline Bond has hated her father for many reasons. The biggest reason is how he's always getting himself killed and she's left with complete strangers.</p><p>And now she's left alone with a man with no name, just a letter, who claims to be her father's fiance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> James calls her Emm. She hates James. Hates him for keeping her, hates him for constantly abandoning her, hates him from naming her after his bloody boss, hates him for letting her grieve for him way too many times. There are thousands of reasons for why Emmeline Bond hates her father. Now he’s dead, again, and she’s being shipped off to live with a stranger. Again. She may just hate him even more than she usually does right now. Bondlock would be awesome. —wakahisadmanami

The tension in the car was palpable. Neither driver nor passengers said a word for a majority of the ride.

Not that Emmeline would have had anything to say, even if someone did talk to her. She was hardly in the mood for small talk. It was not her first time making trips like this.

Her father was dead. This would be more tragic if it weren’t such a common occurrence, of course. But every time her father died, she’d be taken from whatever boarding school she had been dumped at whenever her father was away “on business” and taken to some stranger that her father “trusted.”

Then her father would return from the dead a few months later, and everything would return to “normal” until the cycle repeated itself.

Rather tedious, the entire exercise.

The man next to Emmeline was rather content to not say anything and instead inspected his umbrella, which was quite fine with her. In fact, nothing was said until the car pulled up to a rather lavish looking townhouse.

“So how exactly do you know my dad?” Emmiline finally had to ask, grabbing her backpack.

The man turned his gaze to her, “In short, you could say that I am his…employer.”

“I thought M was Dad’s boss.” She replied bitterly. After all, if she had to live with the stupid nickname Emm after the woman, she might as well be someone important.

“M is the head of MI6. I, in turn, am her superior.” The man nodded, helping her out of the car.

Emmeline didn’t give too much of a reaction. She had been through this too much, “Dad must have done some serious favors for you to be stuck on babysitting duty.”

“As much of a pleasure you are for company, I will not be your guardian for the time being.” The man replied primly, walking to the front door of the townhouse, “Instead, you’ll be staying with my brother.”

As they stepped into the house, Emmeline took in the well decorated home. Well, whoever lived here was certainly not lacking in money, “And how does your brother know my dad?”

There was a moment when the silence hung heavy between them, with Emmeline watching the man and the man doing what he could not to meet her eye.

“Perhaps…” he finally said, walking her to what looked like a study, “It would be better if he told you himself.”

There was another man sitting in the study, his head bowed so his dark curls fell in his face. At the sound of Emmeline and her escort’s entrance, he looked up, lifting his glasses so he could wipe tears from his eyes, “You must be Emmeline…” He said weakly, standing slowly as he looked to Emmeline’s escort, “Thank you for bringing her, Mycroft.”

Her escort, Mycroft, nodded, “The rest of her things should arrive in a few days.” He watched the two of them, “I’ll leave you to it then.”

Without another word, Mycroft left the room.

Silence hung in the air again, a common occurrence for Emmeline. With a sigh, she readjusted her backpack on her shoulder, “So…might as well ask who you are if I’m going to be staying here for a while.”

The new man nodded repeatedly, “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” He gave her a weak smile, “My name is Q—”

“Of course it is.” Emmeline, “Of course you worked with my dad.”

“I was his Quartermaster yes.” Q cleared his throat, “But…I was also his fiancé.”


	2. Chapter 2

Her dad’s fiancé. That’s what he called himself. And it made Emm sick to her stomach.

She hated him. She hated the way he cried for her dad, as if his death wasn’t just a temporary thing. She hated how he fussed over her, moving her things into a bedroom and telling her if she needed anything, she could ask for it. She hated how he made dinner and sat with her at the table, as if they were a family.

She hated him.

“So when was dad going to tell me he was gay, let alone getting married?” She asked, not looking up from her chicken parmesan.

Q looked at her, setting down his fork, “I don’t think your father could ever be classified as a homosexual…”

“You look male to me.”

“Yes,” Q sighed, “I happen to be male and your father and I fell in love.”

Emmeline shook her head, “Dad doesn’t do love. He does jobs.” She stabbed at the green beans on her plate, “Even I was just an accident.”

Q stood, forcing his chair back, “You stop talking like that this instant, young lady.” He clenched his fists before storming from the room.

With a shrug, Emmeline returned to her meal. He wasn’t the first of her guardians to get upset at her for not being upset about her father’s death. And chances were he wouldn’t be the last.

A short while later, Q returned holding several photo frames which he then set on the table.

They were hers. Pictures of her at varying ages, even a few drawings of hers (she had hoped he had just thrown them out).

“You should hear how he talks about you.” Q said softly, bringing his chair to sit next to her, “When he first mentioned he had a daughter, I almost couldn’t believe it. Then he started showing me your pictures, and the way he talked about how smart you were, how talented you were…” he paused, tracing a photo of Emm as a toddler, one of the few that had her father in the picture, “You’re the light of his world.”

“Funny, he never mentioned any of that to me.” Emm shook her head, taking another bite of food.

Q nodded, “In case you haven’t noticed Emmeline, your father is a bit rubbish at speaking about his feelings.”

“He got you alright.”

“I had to ask him out first.” Q smiled as he remembered the event, “Your father isn’t afraid of much, but I’m afraid his own heart might be one of them. Which may be the reason why he put off introducing us for so long…”

Emm sighed, leaning back in her chair, “Was he _seriously_ going to get married without me knowing?”

Q shook his head, “I don’t think so. He only asked me to marry him before he left on his most recent mission…I think he knew the danger of his mission was very real.”

Emmeline shrugged, “I wouldn’t worry too much, he’ll probably pop up sometime soon.”

“I admire your optimism.”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve been told my father has died.” Emm shook her head, “It loses its effect after the third or fourth time.”

“Not if you’re the one who has to listen to it happen.”

Emmeline stopped, looking at Q. The man didn’t say anything, simply holding the photo of Emm and her dad and looking at it fondly. “That must be terrible…” She muttered.

“It is.” Q nodded, “But it’s part of the job: your father’s and mine.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

“Emmeline, I’ve got your chow mein.” Q walked into the living room with bags of take out in his hands.

Emmeline was sitting at the coffee table working on her homework (she never did like working at desks or tables, preferring to sit on the floor while she worked), looking up at her would-be step father, “Did you want to eat it here?” She asked, curious.

Q smiled, sitting down at the coffee table, “There’s no need to use the formal dining room, let alone dishes.” He chuckled, passing out the boxes of Chinese food, “How’s the homework?”

“Boring, as ever.” Emmeline sighed, popping open a box of chow mein, “But supposedly it will be good for me.”

“Homework simply prepares you for the paperwork you’ll have to fill out as an adult.” Q smirked, taking a bite of his sweet and sour chicken.

“Joy…” Emmeline shook her head, “Pass me the chopsticks.”

Q tossed the cheap chopsticks to the young teen, who didn’t waste time in snapping them apart and cleaning away any unwanted splinters. It was only halfway through her second bite of chow mein that Emmeline remembered the first time she used chopsticks.

_“I don’t know why I have to learn to use these, Daddy!” Emm whined as she fussed with the two sticks in her hand._

_James Bond chuckled lightly, adjusting his daughter’s grip on the chopsticks so they were in the correct position. “Because you’ll never know when you’ll have Asian cuisine.”_

_“But can’t I just use a fork?” She pouted in response._

_Her father only smiled softly, “Not all the time…” he kissed her head, coaching her through using her chopsticks to get food to her mouth._

“Something on your mind, Emmeline?” Q asked, watching her carefully.

The teen sighed, “It’s nothing…just remembering when my dad taught me to use chopsticks…”

Q nodded slowly, “…James had to tape the chopsticks to my hand before I started getting them right.”

Emmeline snorted, “You’re joking.”

“I’m not.” Q smiled, “It was quite amusing, now that I think back to it.” He paused, looking back at Emmeline, “Why don’t we take a break from homework and play a game while we’re having dinner?”

“Sounds like it could get messy, especially with oily Chinese.” Emmeline smiled, but Q had already gotten up and headed to the closet.

After a moment, Q chuckled, “Of course, now that I’m actually looking, I’m seeing that I don’t have much in the way of games…We can’t play Cluedo because my brother burned it after the last time we played—don’t ask, my brother isn’t quite sane—but I do have Scrabble.”

“Scrabble sounds very old fashion.” Emmeline nodded, “I can’t wait.”  


	4. Chapter 4

She hadn’t always hated her father. There had been a time in which Emmeline had thought her father was the sun, the moon, and the stars. She had been a little girl, and he was her father, they only had each other.

The hatred had been learned over years of heartbreak.

The first few times Emmeline had been met by men in suits, informing her that her father was dead, her would had been shattered. She had dealt with the despair of knowing her father would never come home, the fear of being alone in the world, and the anger at the world for taking him from her. She also felt joy and relief every time she received word that her father was actually alive.

But after going through the cycle of emotions dozens of times, Emmeline couldn’t make herself feel anymore. She turned her anger towards her father. Because feeling anger was easier than feeling everything else.

In one way, she was doing much better than Q was. She recognized the periods of silence Q would have in which he would simply stare off into the distance, the hours in which he would lay on the couch without moving. He was heartbroken, but trying to be strong for Emmeline.

Emmeline, in turn, was trying to be strong for Q.

Which was why she was making dinner that evening. Sure, it was just Mac and Cheese, but it was sure better than having take-out for the millionth night in a row. Not much better, but still…

The telephone rang, and Emmeline knew that Q had answered it after the second ring. It was probably some sort of boring business, she paid no mind to it, busying herself with finishing dinner.

“Q!” She called, setting two bowls on the table, “The Mac and Cheese is ready!”

There was no answer from Q. He probably hadn’t heard her, or he was still talking on the phone. Emmeline made her way to Q’s office. She knocked on the door, pushing it open as she did so, “Q, dinner is ready.”

Q wasn’t listening, he didn’t even acknowledge Emmeline’s presence. He was staring at the far wall, tears streaming down his face and the phone lying limply in his hand. The sight was unnerving.

Emmeline stepped closer to her would-be step-father, unsure what to say. As she did, she could hear a voice on the phone, whoever Q had been talking to was still trying to speak to him. Carefully, she took the phone from Q and answered it, “Hello?”

“ _Q?”_

“No, this is Emmeline.”

“ _Ah, well, that’s good, I needed to speak to you as well. You don’t know who I am, but I wanted to inform you that your father was found—”_

Emmeline never heard the rest of what the speaker had to say, as the phone clattered to the floor as she dropped it.


	5. Chapter 5

The hospital room was eerily silent save for the slow rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. It was such a small sound, but it was all the more smothering to the two visitors standing in the doorway.

James lay lifeless in the small hospital bed, his chest rising and falling slowly as he breathed. His face was heavily bruised, and there were bandages covering much of his body.

“Where was he found?” Emmeline whispered, keeping her arms crossed over her chest.

Q adjusted his glasses, trying not to look at James, “Siberia, I believe.”

The teen nodded slowly, “…what did they do to him?”

The Quartermaster shook his head, “I…I didn’t ask.” His voice broke as he took a step toward James’s bed.

Emmeline could see the tears welling up in Q’s eyes, and clenched her fists, “I hate him…”

“No you don’t.” Q replied simply, sitting by James’s bedside.

“I do.” Emmeline moved to Q’s side, “I hate it that he does this all the time…I’m so sick of this…”

After a long moment of silence, Q reached out and wrapped his arm around Emmeline’s waist, “That doesn’t mean you don’t love him.” He said softly.

Emmeline didn’t try and move from Q’s grasp, instead sitting on the arm of Q’s chair, “It hurts…”

“Loving hurts.” Q nodded, “As my brother might say, “caring is not an advantage.” Because when we love, we open ourselves for pain.” He stared at James as he spoke, taking the agent’s hand with his free hand, “But we also open ourselves for joy when we love.”

“That’s deep.” Emmeline murmured, “Did you get that from a fortune cookie?”

Q stifled a snort, “Oh you…that sounds like something your father would say.” He smiled softly.

“Yeah…it does…” Emmeline found herself smiling despite herself, wrapping her arm around Q’s shoulders, watching as her father lay unconscious.


End file.
